News

Mass. EMT Charged with Driving While Drugged

By Erin Smith, esmith@lowellsun.com

12/04/2011

DRACUT -- A uniformed off-duty paramedic was reportedly so out of it when he was stopped for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs last weekend that officers had to hold him upright to handcuff him.

Evan P. Kilbride, 32, of 127 Beacon St., Lowell, faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs, operating to endanger, marked lanes violations, and unlawful possession of the Cambridge police badge found in his glove compartment.

Kilbride, who was still wearing his Trinity paramedics uniform when police stopped his 1995 Toyota Corolla in a parking lot in front of 51 Frederick St., has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending an investigation, according to officials at Trinity EMS.

In Kilbride's car, police allegedly found a variety of pills -- some with a prescription in his name and some without, a plastic bag that appeared to contain a "white powder" drug, and drug paraphernalia associated with heroin use, including syringes, cotton swabs and a rubber strip to "tie off" a drug user's arm, according to police reports.

Police sent a plastic bag with white powder and cotton balls covered with residue to the state police lab for testing, which could take months, and plan to charge Kilbride if the substances are found to be illegal narcotics, according to Dracut Deputy Police Chief David Chartrand.

"It's certainly not a packaging method for legitimate drugs," said Chartrand.

Arresting officers also found a Cambridge police sergeant's badge mounted on a badge wallet in Kilbride's glove box.

Cambridge Police Superintendent Steven Williams said the department has had several reports of missing badges reported over time but none in the past several months. Williams said the department was looking into the matter.

Dracut police said they called officials at Trinity EMS to report the charges the same day as Kilbride's arrest.

An alert driver called police at about 2:50 p.m. on Nov. 26 to report a driver who appeared to be sleeping in a stopped car in the middle of traffic on the Textile Memorial Bridge in Lowell, according to reports. The caller followed Kilbride as he woke up and continued to drive, allegedly serving off the road at 1269 Lakeview Ave. and into a parking lot where he narrowly missed a utility pole, according to court records. Police arrested him shortly after but declined to give him a sobriety test for safety reasons because he was too unsteady on his feet, according to police reports.

Kilbride was released about six hours later on personal recognizance to the custody of his brother, according to Chartrand. Kilbride is due in court Jan. 18.